Christmas is just around the corner and it would have to be one of my favourite times of the year. It’s the time for celebrations, families coming together and of course the giving of gifts.

Unfortunately, my family lives interstate and it is just impossible to spend time with everyone across the holidays. When Officeworks offered the girls and I the chance to come in-store and create our own 3D Mini Me, I thought it would be the perfect way to finally be in two places at once this Christmas!

Last week, we headed into the Officeworks 3D Experience Centre, on Russell Street in Melbourne, for the full 3D immortalisation experience. The staff were fantastic and went through the whole process step-by-step, so the girls could understand exactly what was going to happen.

The first step was the scanning process, where you simply stand still in a camera filled room with the door closed, for 10 seconds. With young children they need to stand on a step to be able to reach the cameras properly. Bella (my 6 year old) did it perfectly, however I knew that Giselle (my 3 year old) wouldn’t be so great on her own. We tried a few of times with her but unfortunately she moved around too much, so we decided to have it together - I think worked out quite nicely in the end!

After the quick scanning process, the girls took a look at all the images on the screen and choose which photo they wanted to use for their Mini-Me.

The next step was to choose the size – you can select a small, medium or large Mini-Me. We chose the small for Bella and medium for Giselle and I.

The last step was also simple – wait for the miniature versions of ourselves to arrive and send them home to family just in time for Christmas. If you find yourself in a similar position, unable to spend the holidays with all your family, then this is the perfect present to make up for your absence at the Christmas table! It’s amazing that there’s technology like the 3D printer these days that can make gift-giving so much more personal and special.

Note that a Mini-Me can take 10-14 days to arrive from the time of scanning, so if you feel this would be a great gift this Christmas head into the Russell St store as soon as you can.

Both girls absolutely love their 3D Mini Me and were so excited to give them to Nonna – it’s nice to know we’ll all be together in some capacity on Christmas Day. I actually think I would like to get them done yearly for the girls to keep, so when they are older they can look back on them and see how much they’ve grown.

To find out more about this fun and innovative service, head into the Officeworks 3D Experience Centre or visit the Officeworkswebsite.